After the Wedding is a movie about choices - about
good people who, facing difficult decisions, tried to act wisely and morally, only
to find that some of their choices were not as clear-cut or as virtuous as they
first appeared to be. It’s also about secrets and lies. Featuring first-rate
performances by a quartet of great actors, it is a compelling story beautifully
told - engaging, powerful and stirring.
The picture stars Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Billy Cradup
and newcomer Abby Quinn, and is directed by Bart Freundlich. It’s about an
American expatriate named Isabel (Williams), now managing a struggling
orphanage in Calcutta who travels to New York, her former home city, to nail
down a major contribution from a wealthy benefactor. But the donor, Theresa
(Moore), puts Isabel off for a few days, citing her pre-occupation with urgent
business matters and her daughter’s imminent wedding that weekend. Therese
invites Isabel to the wedding “where we can get to know each other better.”
After the Wedding is one of those peeling-the-onion
stories, which is to say a tale of layers revealed bit by bit, and the profound
emotional and moral reverberations triggered by these disclosures. It’s at the
wedding where the peeling begins in earnest here, and after the wedding where
the dramatic stew really starts cooking. With each new reveal, we learn more
and more about the characters, their motives, their relationships and the fateful
decisions each has made; with each new element adding depth and complexity to
the narrative. The narrative and emotional drama builds, slowly at first and
then with increasing urgency. So does our engagement with the story and our empathy
for and with the principals.
The master of this sort of story is the great Iranian
director Asghar Farhadi [About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), The
Salesman (2016)]. Other great directors, such as Pedro Almodovar [Women
On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Julieta (2016)]; Alfred
Hitchcock [Vertigo (1958)], and Ingmar Bergman [Cries and Whispers(1972),
Autumn Sonata (1978)] just to name a few, have on occasion told a story
by sequentially peeling off layers of veneer one by one in a similar way.
Director Bart Freundlich may not yet have the reputation of
those masters, but After the Wedding is a pretty good start. To
be fair, he had some advantages. First off, the current film is based on a 1996
award-winning Danish movie also called After the Wedding, which was
nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film. That movie
starred Mads Mikkelson and was written and directed by Susanne Bier, who
subsequently won the Oscar for her 2010 picture In A Better World and
more recently won an Emmy in 2016 for directing the limited series The Night
Manager. I recall liking the original picture quite a lot twenty-some years
ago. I see no reason to compare this English language remake to that film, however,and
chose not to revisit it for purposes of this review. This version of After
the Wedding must stand or fall on its own merits. If it’s good, it’s
good, right.?
Anyway, the point is that Freundlich started with a story that
already had a pretty good pedigree. I will point out, however that while the
basic plot of the new film generally follows the original, Freundlich wrote a
new and updated English language screenplay, moved the story to New York, and made
other notable changes, like changing the gender (and thus to considerable
degree the outlook and personalities) of the two key protagonists.
He also was aided by a terrific cast. The first hired was
Julianne Moore [The End 0f the Affair (1999), The Kids Are All Right
(2010). In addition to being a five-time Oscar nominee, winning the Best
Actress award for Still Alice (2014), Moore just happens to be
Freundlich’s wife. Then there is the phenomenal (no other word will do) Michelle
Williams [My Week With Marilyn (2011), Manchester By the Sea
(2016)], herself a four-time Oscar nominee (and currently nominated for an Emmy
for her brilliant portrayal of Gwen Verdun in Fosse/Verdun). The
chameleon-like Billy Cradup [Almost Famous (2000), The Good Shepherd
(2006), Spotlight (2015)] plays Therese’s husband Oscar, and 23-year-old
relative newcomer Abby Quinn is Moore and Cradup’s daughter, Grace, the one who
is getting married.
Even with all this talent and a pre-tested story, Freundlich
had to put it all together. The good news is he has succeeded, wonderfully. The
film envelopes you, draws you in, initially with scenes displaying the beauty
and exoticism of teeming, colorful India and the orphanage with its adorable
kids. Then there is the opulent, yet understated world of Theresa’s New York –
from her suburban estate to her slick city office to the enormous yet
exquisitely decorated hotel suite she provides for Isabel. Quite a contrast!
Ultimately though, what engages us are the complex, vital, three
dimensional characters – all quite credible - and their unfolding dramas and
moral-personal, soul-searching dilemmas. Although none is perfect, there also
are no villains. I found my sympathies jumping from one to the next time and
again. Each will likely move your heart at various points along the way.
Each of the principal performers is at the top of his/her
game.
In every role I’ve seen Michelle Williams, she so completely
inhabits her character that she appears to be a different person. Sometimes she’s
aided by wigs and makeup as in her portrayals of Marilyn Monroe and Gwen Verdun
– but even then, it’s her assuming a new personality that grabs us. Here, she
wears no disguises and looks on the surface just like Michelle Williams. And yet, and yet … the way she holds herself,
the way she walks, how she nervously adjusts her constant shawl, the manner of
her speech, how she reacts to Theresa or Oscar or Grace - all is uniquely Isabel,
and Michelle the actress disappears. Of course , that’s why it is called acting,
but Williams has few peers in performing this magic.
Much the same can be said for Julianne Moore, although
possibly with a tad less fervor. She’s instantly recognized as the famous
actress, but with a total commitment to her character, this actress soon
disappears, to become Theresa. In some respects, her role is more difficult to
empathize with, because Theresa is, for a good part of the movie, an
ultra-strong - to the point of seeming cold - character. But eventually we succumb,
she pulls us in.
Billy Cradup is not as big a star as Williams or Moore, and
some viewers may not as easily recognize him; but he shares with them that
total commitment to his part. In a sincere, intense, highly affecting
performance, he bowled me over. Even brought me to tears at one point.
Abby Quinn and her character, Grace, are of a different
generation. Grace’s history does not extend retrospectively in the way that her parents’ does, and she’s got fewer regrets. But as Grace and we together learn about the past, she can’t help but react – and in fact, she rides an emotional roller coaster. Quinn navigates this territory perfectly, like a seasoned pro. She’s also a talented musician, who wrote and
performs Knew You For A Moment, the original song which runs over the
closing credits.
After the Wedding is also lovely to look at
- artfully composed and photographed by the great cinematographer Julio Macat [Home
Alone I, II, and III in the 1990s, The Wedding Planner (2001), Pitch
Perfect (2012). Whether it’s a family gathering in the cozy-rich interior
of Theresa and Oscar’s Long Island home or Grace’s wedding on their sprawling
lawn, a crowded street market in Calcutta, a business meeting in a modern, glass
enclosed New York high-rise, or a tête-à-tête at a swank Manhattan
restaurant - the angle, the lighting, the focus, the tone, the shot is just
right. At crucial moments, Freundlich and Macat wisely opt to keep the camera’s
and our attention focused tightly on the faces of the actors. As I’ve noted,
they oblige with great, emotionally nuanced performances.
The result is an intimate story with a beautiful, rich 70
millimeter feel to it. No violence. No sex. Just real people and a story about love,
empathy, deceit, generosity, honesty, regret, honor and love.
1 hour 52 minutes Rated:
PG-13
Grade: A
Opens August 9, 2019 in NY and LA. Then rolling out to select theaters nationwide
over subsequent weeks beginning August 16, 2019.
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